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the Almighty, was blessed and approved by her majesty the empress Maria, our much beloved mother. Meanwhile, the mournful account of the decease of his majesty had reached Warsaw, direct from Taganrok, on the 25th November, and consequently two days prior to its being received here. Firm in his resolution, the Cezarowitsch grand duke Constantine, confirmed the same on the following day, by two acts, dated 26th November, and commissioned to our beloved brother, the grand duke Michael, to carry them to us. These acts consisted in:

1. A letter to her majesty the empress, our much beloved mother, in which his imperial highness renews his former resolution, supports it by the copy of a rescript of the deceased emperor, dated the 2d February, 1822, serving as an answer to the act of abdication, and finally renounces solemnly, all his claims to the throne, and recognized the same as transferred to us and our successors, according to the appointments contained in the fundamental law of the succession.

2. A letter directed to us, wherein his imperial highness, anew, declares his former resolution, gives us the title of imperial majesty, and reserves for himself, only the former one of Cezarowitsch, and calls himself the most faithful of our subjects.

However decisive these acts were, and although they proved to occular demonstration, that the resolution of his imperial highness was irrevocably fixed, yet our own sentiment, and the situation of affairs, induced us to defer the publication of the aforesaid acts, until the will of his imperial highness, with reference to

the oath taken by us and the whole empire, should be declared.

Whereas, we have now also received, on the part of his imperial highness, this last declaration of his will, we communicate the same to our subjects, accompanying it by the following documents :

1. The letter of his imperial highness the Cezarowitsch grand duke Constantine to the deceased empe ror Alexander.

2. The answer of his imperial majesty.

3. The manifesto of the deceased emperor, which confirms the abdication of his imperial highness, and recognizes us as successor to the throne.

4. The letter of his imperial highness to her majesty the empress, our much beloved mother.

5. The letter of his imperial highness directed to us.

In conformity with all these documents, and with the fundamental law of the empire regarding the order of succession-full of veneration for the impenetrable decrees of a guiding Providencewe now ascend the throne of our ancestors, the throne of the empire of all the Russias, as well as the thrones inseparable therefrom— that of the kingdom of Poland, and the grand duchy of Finland, and command-1. That the oath of allegiance be rendered to us and to the heir of our throne, the grand duke Alexander imperial highness, our much beloved son. 2. That the period of our ascension to the throne be calculated from the 19th November, 1825.

Finally, we call upon our faithful subjects to join us in fervent prayers to the Almighty, that he will grant us strength to bear the burthen he

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LETTER of His Imperial Highness the CEZAROWITSCH Grand Duke CONSTANTINE, to the Emperor ALEXANDER the first.

Most illustrious, &c. &c.-Encouraged by the manifold proofs of affection of your imperial majesty towards me, I venture once more to claim them, and to lay the following submissive request at your illustrious feet.

As I do not lay claim to the spirit, the abilities, or the strength, which would be required, if I should ever exercise the high dignity to which I may possess a right by birth, I most fervently supplicate your imperial majesty to transfer that right to him who would inherit it after me, and by that act to secure the stability of the empire. With respect to myself, I shall add by this abdication, a new warranty and a further power to that obligation, into which I entered volunta

rily and solemnly on the occasion of the divorce from my first wife. All the circumstances of my present situation, induce me still more to adopt this measure, which will prove to the empire and the whole world the purity of my sentiments.

May your imperial majesty receive my wish with condescension, may you determine our illustriuos mother to accede to it, and to sanction it by your imperial approbation.

In the circle of a private life, I shall constantly endeavor to set an example to all your faithful subjects, and all who are animated by a love for our dear country.

With profound respect, sire, your imperial majesty's most loyal subject and brother, (Signed)

CONSTANTINE CEZAROWITSCH. Petersburg, 14th Jan. 1822.

Answer of His Imperial Majesty

the Emperor ALEXANDER.

Very dear brother-I have read your letter with all the attention which it demanded. I have found nothing in it which caused surprise, as I always knew how to estimate the sublime sentiments of your heart. It has given me a new proof of your sincere attachment to the state, and your care for the preservation of undisturbed tranquillity.

I have, in conformity with your wish, laid your letter before our beloved mother. She read it with the same sentiments as I did, and gratefully acknowledges the noble motives by which you were guided.

From the reasons which you state, we have both of us only to leave you full liberty to follow your firm resolution, and to pray the Al

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Manifesto of the Emperor
ALEXANDER.

We, by the grace of God, Alexander the first, emperor and autocrat of all the Russias, &c. &c.

Make known to our faithful subjects, that from the moment we ascended the throne of Russia, we have invariably felt, that it was our duty towards Almighty God, not only to maintain during our reign the happiness of our dear country and of our people, but also to prepare and secure a clear and exact appointment of our successor, according to the laws of our imperial house, and rights of the empire.

We were not able to appoint him immediately, according to the example of our predecessors, under the expectation in which we were, whether it might not please Providence to grant us an heir to the throne in a direct line. But the more we increase in years, the more we think it necessary to hasten in placing our throne in such a state that it cannot remain vacant for a moment.

Whilst we were impressed with this anxiety, our dearly beloved brother, the Cezarowitsch and grand duke Constantine, in following his own inclination, addressed to us the request of transferring his right to the dignity of the throne, to which he might hereafter be raised by his birth, to such person who may be entitled to it,

in default of him. He, at the same time, declared, by this means, his consent to the supplementary act respecting the succession to the throne, which was granted by us in the year 1820, and acknowledged by him, voluntarily and solemnly, and gives new force to it as far as the same concerns him.

We are deeply affected by this sacrifice, which our dearly beloved brother has resolved to make, with such great self-denial for the conformation of the hereditary statutes of our imperial house, and the unshaken tranquillity of the Russian empire.

After having invoked the assistance of God, and having duly and maturely considered an object as dear to our heart as it is important to the state, and finding that the statutes which related to the order of succession to the throne, do not deprive those who have a right to it of the power of relinquishing the same, if no difficulty exists with respect to the line of succession, we have, therefore, with the previous consent of our illustrious mother, as well as the high power of the head of the imperial family, which came to us by inheritance, and mindful of the power granted us by God, have commanded as follows:

In the first place, the voluntary act, by which our elder brother the Cezarowitsch and grand duke Constantine, renounced his rights to the Russian throne, shall remain firm and irrevocable. In order to secure the publicity of the said act of renunciation, it shall be deposited in the grand cathedral church of Ascensión, at Moscow, and with our three highest authorities, the holy synod, the senate, and the directing senate.

Secondly. With respect to the arrangement, and in conformity with the exact tenor of the act of succession to the throne, we acknowledge as our successor, our second brother, the grand duke Nicholaus. In this manner we reserve to ourselves the pleasing hope, that on the day when it shall please the King of kings, according to the universal law of all mortals, to call us from our temporal government to eternity, the chief state officers of the empire, (to whom our present and irrevocable will, as also our present legal appointment, shall, by our order, be communicated in due time,) will use all diligence in swearing the oath of allegiance to the hereditary emperor, whom we have just

now appointed to the throne of the Russian empire, as well as to the inseparable throne of the kingdom of Poland and the grand duchy of Finland.

With respect to ourselves, we request all our faithful subjects will, with the same sentiments of love and affection which caused us to consider the care for their constant happiness, as our greatest blessing upon earth, direct their fervent prayers to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that, in his infinite mercy, he may receive our souls into his everlasting kingdom.

Done at Tzarsko-selo, the 16th August, in the year of our Lord 1823, and 23d year of our reign. (Signed) ALEXANDER.

On the 13th May, the Emperor ALEXANDER opened the Session of the diet of POLAND by the following SPEECH.

When four years ago I separated myself from you, lamentable events had produced a general movement in Europe, which threatened to compromise the prosperity of all the nations. I wished to leave to the opinions time to become fixed, and to the passions time to subside. Your third session was deferred; but this delay, I am certain, will possess the happy result of having the better prepared your labors, and it is with real satisfaction, and with those sentiments of attachment of which I have already given you so many proofs, that I find my self in the midst of you.

In the interval that has elapsed since the last diet, faithful to my duties and to the resolutions which I expressed to you, as soon as I remarked the germ of troubles, I offered opposition to its develop

ment. To consolidate my work, ensure its duration, and guarantee to you the peaceable enjoyment of the fruits expected from it, I have added an article to the fundamental law of the kingdom.* This measure, which removes all necessity of exercising influence in the choice of members of the diet and upon your deliberations, proves the part I take in the consolidation of your constitutional compact. This is the sole object that I proposed to accomplish in adopting this measure, and the Poles, I have the fullest confidence, will know how to appreciate the object and the means I have employed for its accomplishment.

My minister in the interior will

*The article here referred to, is that by which the publicity of the debates of the diet is prohibited.

lay before you the picture of the situation of the kingdom, as well as the administrative measures that have been pursued during four years. You will have the satisfaction of seeing the rapid progress of industry, and to find that if the general prosperity has not yet attained the degree of perfection to which my wishes and the efforts of the government seek to carry it, the cause must be looked for in nothing else than the almost general stagnation of trade in agricultural produce. In other respects, the most advantageous results have been obtained. The national debt approaches to its complete acquittal.

Two conventions have fixed the part of this debt, that Austria and Prussia have to support. In a short time a new finance law will regulate the revenue and expenditure of the state. A ruinous deficit had compromised your dearest interests. It has disappeared.

The

excess of the receipts must be applied scrupulously to the extinction of the national debt.

The negotiations entered upon with the court of Berlin, to settle the affairs of commerce between Poland and Prussia, have been crowned with the most happy success, by means of a series of regulations, of a frank and amicable nature, which serve as the basis of my relations with my faithful allies. The convention which I have ratified, affords easy openings to your commerce abroad. That which you have with Russia acquires daily greater activity and extent. The facilities that have

been granted to it are doubly advantageous, both by the mutual welfare of which they favor the progress, and by the new ties which draw the two nations together.

The debts with which private property is burdened, have, in particular, excited my closest attention. A project for forming an association, in solido, of the land owners, will be laid before you. It is the result of opinions which have undergone long discussion in your council of the Palatines.

Religion, that source of every virtue, that indispensable base of all human institutions, appears to command a revision of a part of your civil code. A commission, chosen from among yourselves, has undertaken this important labor, and the project of the first book, which it has already discussed, will be communicated to you.

My thoughts will accompany you in the discharge of your functions, and you will find me ever ready to adopt the ameliorations which may be proposed to me; but, at the same time, resolved to reject every species of concession that may be prejudicial to your prosperity.

Representatives of the kingdom of Poland, may you, being free from all influence, proceed in your deliberations with calmness! The futurity of your country is in your hands. Consider nothing but its welfare, its real advantage. Render to it all the services that it expects from your assembling together, and second me in the accomplishment of the wishes which I have never ceased to form for it. 22

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